Mistakes

I stood on the side of the stage, watching David perform. He was sweating all ready, and sucking down water whenever he stopped to take a breath or in between songs. His hair was curling around his ears. It was getting long again, which had always been my favorite thing. Longer hair made him look younger, more than his baby face ever could.

Technically, nobody here was expecting me to show up. David and I had gotten into it before he left for Warped Tour, which was strange for us. We never fought about anything serious. It was more like bickering, but most of the time, we were never serious about it. But this time we had been fighting in a serious way. It was stupid things, really, just a build up of small things and we both had exploded. I hadn't spoken to David since he left for Warped, and it was driving me crazy. I missed his voice. I missed our Skype dates. He'd put up all these photos on Instagram and it made me ache seeing him smiling and not knowing why.

David was bouncing around the stage, bending down across the edge of the stage to grab the kids' hands. "And I swear to God, I won't stop until you're shaking..." he sang. Jesus, that was probably the sexiest line he'd ever written. My mouth watered and my entire body ached. I missed him so badly. I didn't want to fight anymore.

I plucked a loose string from my shorts and waited. The boys finished their set with Blackout, as usual, and I ducked back towards the wall to get out of the way. They weren't expecting to see me, so I knew they'd just come barreling through like drunk fools.

"Kalel?" I looked up when David said my name. He set his guitar on the stand, looking a mixture of shocked and happy to see me. "It's so good to see you, baby!"

I wasn't sure why I was expecting him to be angry with me. When he came close enough, I threw my arms around his neck and squeezed him in tight. "I've missed you, Dave. I'm sorry... about before."

He held me tightly, his hands slipping just under my shirt to press against my bare back. "I'm sorry, too, baby. I hate fighting with you. Let's not do it again, okay?" He smiled against my lips when I nodded and I let him kiss me. "I won't ever let you go, Kalel."

"I would never let you let me go," I promised. "I'll always be yours, David Schmitt. Forever."

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Bradley had moments of really good suggestions. A day or so after she and I had had brunch, I followed her back to the dance studio I'd been at since I'd moved to Los Angeles. It was definitely the most top notch studio I had ever had the privilege of dancing for. I had missed everyone there, since it was the studio I'd gone to when I first moved to the city.

She had taken me back to our studio and convinced me to sign up for dance classes with her. It was probably the best thing for me. I'd missed dancing so much. I didn't dance at all when I went home to Denver. I couldn't bring myself to do it. I had lost my passion for anything. But getting back into dance, I knew, was the best thing for me.

Surprisingly, Anthony, the studio manager, offered me my teaching position back. I had called him before I left to say that I was going home for a little while and pretty much left him high and dry. I stayed as long as I could, but I left the minute Anthony found someone to replace me. I was so happy and surprised to have my favorite job back and I took it without even thinking about it. I was back teaching ballet and hip hop again, and it felt so amazingly wonderful.

Dancing helped keep my mind off of David very well, just like it had when he was on tour and I needed something to do to keep my mind busy. I hadn't even realized that the Summerfest tour was over. My days blurred together and all I saw was dancing. I was even going with some girls at the studio to try out for some local theater's production of Chicago. The only way to get over David was to move on with my life. He obviously had by getting a girlfriend. I wanted to do the same.

After an intense 90 minute dance class, I grabbed my bag and headed for the door. Normally, I grabbed my water bottle for class, but I'd been running late and forgot to snag it from the fridge on my way out. Thankfully, David came to my rescue, shoving a PowerAide bottle into my hand when he saw me. He was leaning against my car, shades over his eyes, looking cute as ever.

"Have I ever told you how amazing you are?" I laughed, sucking down a few gulps of the cold drink.

"I've heard it mentioned, yeah," he teased me. "Sorry to stalk you like this. Bradley said you were at class, and I wanted to surprise you."

I smiled at him, though I was confused. "Surprise me how?" I asked. And then it hit me. "David! You're home from tour!" I squealed and threw myself into his arms, thoughtlessly.

"Not exactly the reaction I was expecting, but okay," David said and pulled me in close to him.

I leaned against his shoulder and frowned. He was warm and soft, just like he always was, and it hurt me. "David--"

"I know, Kalel. Just give me a minute, okay?" he said quietly.

Fuck, he sounded so depressed. That hurt me so badly. When I pulled back, I finally got a good look at him. I lifted the sunglasses from his eyes and frowned. "What's the matter? You look sad."

"Kyle and I haven't been getting along recently," he admitted, frowning. "I... don't exactly know why either. We've been trying to write songs all tour, but he doesn't like any of them, which is so fucking weird for him. He's just picking fights and shit now, and it's really bumming me out."

"God, David. I'm so sorry," I said softly. He pushed his fingers through his hair, not looking at me anymore. "But you guys will be all right, yeah? You guys have had spats before. Maybe you just need some time, you know? You've been on tour. Close quarters and all that. Just give him some time, David. He'll come back around. Gretch is gonna pop in a couple of weeks. He's probably so stressed out."

David nodded, slowly, like he was thinking. "You're probably right, Ellie. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come see you and bitch. I actually came to ask you if you wanted to go to dinner tonight."

"Do... you really think that's a good idea, David?" I asked carefully. "You have a girlfriend. Why don't you ask her?"

"Because I want to eat at the Capital Grill, and I won't eat there without you." He shrugged and looked down at his shoes. Fucking cute ass bitch that he was.

"Still a sweet-talker, huh, Dave?" I said softly, blushing.

"You called me Dave again." He was smiling so infectiously that I smiled, too. Maybe I was making a mistake, but at this moment, I didn't even care.